Zaytoun is one of those gems of a movie no one I know has watched. I first caught it about six years ago when I discovered Stephen Dorff, The American actor who plays captured Israeli pilot Yoni. I have since watched every one of Dorff's movies. I have also consumed a good deal of "conflict" films involving Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. I watched Zaytoun for the second time today as the current conflict between Hamas and Israel rages on in real life. Oddly, Zaytoun offered "a place" for contemplation.
Zaytoun is a movie with heart. A study in what motivates various factions in both their aggression and pacifism. It is also about the mutuality of need. Bless Fahed, the young Palestinian "terrorist" who is driven in his commitment to finding his family's ancestral home. He set out to honor his family by planting there an olive tree in their memory. Along the way, Fahed and Yoni made peace with eachother -saw life through the eye's of the other. Yoni ceased to speak of Palestine as though it didn't exist while Fahed demonstrated a certain admiration for Israeli ingenuity. Fahed and Yoni lived world's apart and yet were neighbors. Separated by thin, contrived borders. The gap between this unlikely pair was bridged as Yoni and Fahed navigated the impossible to reach their respective destinations.
Suspending disbelief, particularly in the last 10 minutes of the movie, I wanted badly to sit with the Fahed and Yoni under the stars that final night together. It seemed to me that in the heart of Zaytoun, all things were possible.
Zaytoun is a movie with heart. A study in what motivates various factions in both their aggression and pacifism. It is also about the mutuality of need. Bless Fahed, the young Palestinian "terrorist" who is driven in his commitment to finding his family's ancestral home. He set out to honor his family by planting there an olive tree in their memory. Along the way, Fahed and Yoni made peace with eachother -saw life through the eye's of the other. Yoni ceased to speak of Palestine as though it didn't exist while Fahed demonstrated a certain admiration for Israeli ingenuity. Fahed and Yoni lived world's apart and yet were neighbors. Separated by thin, contrived borders. The gap between this unlikely pair was bridged as Yoni and Fahed navigated the impossible to reach their respective destinations.
Suspending disbelief, particularly in the last 10 minutes of the movie, I wanted badly to sit with the Fahed and Yoni under the stars that final night together. It seemed to me that in the heart of Zaytoun, all things were possible.